Adjustable motor supporting stand



Nov. 17, 1959 R. F. MINER 2,913,241

ADJUSTABLE MOTOR SUPPORTING STAND Filed Jan. 18, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVBNTOR Nov. 17, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 18, 1957 cfl 5 a F M:4' a v 7 w M U. Q m r; w I M f a u 1 H 3 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United StatesPatent ADJUSTABLE MOTOR SUPPORTING STAND Richard F. Miner, Superior,Iowa Application January 18, 1957, Serial No. 634,863 7 2 Claims. or.269-185) This invention relates to a stand for supporting motors andwhich is adjustable for positioning the motor in various positionsrelative to the stand most convenient to a mechanic who is repairing themotor.

More particularly, it is a primaryobject of the present invention toprovide a stand on which a motor can be secured and supported whilebeing worked upon, and which is so constructed that a mechanic withoutassistance from others can readily adjust parts ofthe stand to vary theposition and angular disposition of the motor for most convenientlysituating it for work to be performed thereon.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a motor supportingstand having manually regulated means for securing the several parts .ofthe stand in desired adjusted positions relative to one another so thatthe motor supported by the stand will be maintained in a selectedposition and will be held immovable when pressure or forces are appliedthereto in connection with work being performed on the motor or engine.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure l is an elevational view of the stand;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view thereof, partly broken away andpartly in section;

- Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 33 of Figure 2; i

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section view, taken substantiallyalong a plane as indicated by the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure l;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed vertical sectional view,taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 6-6 of Figurel, and

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view in detail, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 77 of Figure 4.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the adjustable motorsupporting stand in its entirety and comprising the invention isdesignated generally 10 and includes a large base 11 the fiat undersideof whichiscadapted to rest on a suitable supporting surface such as afloor, and

which is preferably provided with a number of openings 12 spaced fromthe center thereof and fromtone another to receive fastenings, notshown, to enable the base 11 to be anchored to a floor surface, ifdesired. An upright post or column 13 has a lower end suitably anchoredto .the central portion of the base 11 and extends upwardly therefromandis disposed perpendicular thereto.

At least the upper end portion of the post or column 13 is of circularcross section. A yoke 14 has a central opening 15 through which theupper portion of the column or post 13 extends and is provided with adepending boss 16, which surrounds the opening 15 and which fitsrotatably and slidably on the post 13. An adjustable clamping collar 17is mounted on and clamped to the post 13 beneath the boss 16 and saidboss engages thereon for swivelly mounting the yoke on the post 13. Anad-- justable upper clamping collar 18 is adjustably secured to theupper portion of the post and bears upon the yoke 14 around the opening15 thereof to detachably retain said yoke on the post 13. A setscrew 19is threaded radially through a part of the boss 16 and is adapted to bemanually tightened against a part of the post 13, when it is desired tosecure the yoke 14 against rotation.

The yoke 14 has upturned ends 20 and 21. The outer side of the yoke end20 is disposed against an inner wall of a gear case 22 and is securedthereto by fastenings 23 and 24. The fastenings 24 comprise tie boltswhich extend through the upper-portions of both upturned yoke ends 20and 21 and which are secured to the gear case 22 for securing said gearcase to the yoke 14 and to retain the yoke ends 20 and 21 in parallelrelation to one another. A shaft 25 extends loosely through the yokeends 20 and 21 above the collar 18 and the upper end of the post 13, andhas one end thereof extending into the gear case 22, as best seen inFigure 2. The shaft 25 is journaled in the inner gear case wall and inthe yoke ends 20 and 21.

A worm gear, designated generally 26 and best illustrated in Figure 3,is contained within the gear case 22 and includes a relatively largeworm wheel 27 through the center of which extends the end of the shaft25 which extends into the gear case 22. The'worm wheel 27 is keyed asseen at 28 to said shaft end 25. The worm gear 26 also includes a worm29 which meshes with the worm wheel 27 and which constitutes a part of ashaft 30. Shaft 30 has a restricted end 31 which is journaled in abearing opening 32 of the gear case 22 and a restricted opposite end 33which extends through and is journaled in a small detachably mountedclosure plate 34 of the gear case 22. A hand crank 35 is secured to theshaft end 33 outwardly of the plate 34. The gear case 22 has adetachable outer wall forming a cover plate 36 which is removable toexpose the worm gear 26 and to permit the parts thereof to be applied toor removed from the gear case.

The shaft 25 has a somewhat enlarged opposite end portion 37 whichextends outwardly from the yoke end 21 and to which is secured a motoror engine mounting bracket, designated generally 38. In the embodimentas shown, the mounting bracket is adapted for use in mounting anoutboard motor but may also be utilized for mounting other types ofmotors and other forms of mounting brackets may be employed. Themounting bracket 38, as disclosed, includes a rigid backing plate 39 oneend portion of which overlies the shaft end 37 and is secured thereto inany suitable manner, as by side thereof opposite the side to which theshaft end 37 is connected. A clamp screw engaging wear plate 43 may besecured by fastenings 44 to the outer or front side of the bracket piece41.

A friction brake 45 includes a collar 46 which fits loosely around apart of the worm shaft 31 which is disposed between the worm 29 and theshaft end 33. Said collar has an integral outwardly extending hollowneck 47 which opens into the bore thereof and which is internallythreaded. The collar 46. and neck 47 form the housing of the brake 45and said neck 47 extends radially from the shaft 30 and has an outerpart extending loosely through an opening 48' in the gear case cover 36to prevent rotation of the collar 46 with the shaft 30. A sleeve 49 isthreadedly mounted in the hollow neck 47. A brake shoe 50 is slidablymounted in the inner end of the sleeve 49 and has an inner end face 51which is shaped to conformably fit against a portion of the shaft 30, asseen in Figure 7, and due to the shape of the face 51 and its contactwith the shaft 30, prevents the slidably mounted brake shoe 58 fromturning in the sleeve 49, as, clearly illustrated in Figure 7. A plug 52forming a spring stop is adjustably mounted threadedly in the outer endof the sleeve 49. A compression spring 53 is disposed in the sleeve 49between the stop 52 and brake shoe 59 for yieldably holding the brakeshoe face 51 in contact with the shaft 30. Pressure exerted by the brakeshoe against the shaft can be varied by adjustment of the spring stop52.

The inner wall of the gear casing 22 is provided with an internallythreaded boss 54 which is disposed in alignment with the brake 45 toreceive a locking screw 55 which is threaded inwardly therethrough. Theinner end of the locking screw 55 can be advanced inwardly intoengagement with the collar 46 to force said collar tightly against theshaft 30 to positively prevent the shaft from turning relative to thebrake 45.

A portion of an outboard motor 56 is shown supported by the mountingbracket 38 and includes a clamp 57 which engages over said mountingbracket 38. The clamp screws 58 of the clamp 57 are advanced inwardly tobring the heads 59 which are swivelly mounted on the inner ends of thescrews 58 into tight engagement against the plate 43 for securing theoutboard motor clamp 57 immovably to the bracket 38.

As best seen in Figure l, a flexible: element 60 of substantial strengthand preferably possessing some elasticity is anchored at one end as seenat 61 to an end of the mounting bracket 38 and has a snap hook 62, atits other free end which detachably engages an eye fastening 63 which isanchored in the mounting bracket 38, near the other end thereof. Theflexible element 60 is en gaged around the outer side of the drive shafthousing of the outboard motor and functions to prevent said housing fromswinging away from the plane of the mounting bracket 38, when saidmounting bracket is swung toward a horizontal position with the baseplate 3? dis posed beneath the bracket piece 41.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the yoke 14 may beswiveled on the post 13 to position the mounting bracket 38 and themotor 56. supported thereby in any desired position around the post 13,where most accessible to a mechanic, or where the best lighting orillumination is available. if desired, the setscrew 19 can be tightenedto secure the yoke immovably to the post 13 to retain the mountingbracket 38 and motor 56 in a desired position relative to the post. Thecrank 35 may then be manually turned to turn the shaft 25 in a desireddirection through the worm gear drive 26 for rotating the mountingbracket 38 in either direction to position the motor 56 at any desiredangle most convenient to be worked upon. The worm gear 26 will enable aheavy motor supported on the mounting bracket 33 to be turned with onlya slight force required to turn the crank 35, so that one man can easilyeffect desired angular adjustments of heavy motors or engines which aresupported on the mounting bracket 38. The spring stop 52 is adjusted sothat the brake shoe will have suflicient frictional engagement with theshaft 30 to normally retain the shaft 25 in any position of rotation towhich it is moved, yet will not prevent the crank 35 being readilyturned manually. Additionally, if desired and to insure retention of themotor at a selected angle, the locking screw can be advanced inwardlyagainst the brake collar 46 to cause said collar to grip the shaft 30 sothat the shaft 25 will be positively retained against rotation.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resortedto, without departing from the function or scope of the invention ashereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as myinvention:

1. A manually operated adjustable motor supporting stand comprising, abase, a post fixed to and rising perpendicularly from said base, a yoke,means swivelly mounting said yoke on the upper portion of said post,said yoke including upstanding substantially parallel ends extending toabove the level of the upper end of said post, a gear case supported bysaid yoke, said gear case being mounted on and secured to an outer sideof one of said yoke ends, a worm gear contained in said gear caseincluding a worm wheel and worm, a shaft extending through and turnablymounted in said yoke ends, above the upper end of said post, and havingan end portion disposed turnably in the gearcase and fixed to the wormwheel, said shaft having an opposite end projecting outwardly from theother yoke end, a motor mounting bracket secured to said last mentionedshaft end, a crank secured to an extension of said worm and disposedexternally of the gear case for rotating the shaft to revolve the motormounting bracket about the axis of said shaft, said yoke being rotatableabout said post for moving said motor mounting bracket to variouspositions around the post, an adjustable friction brake mounted in thegear case, said brake including a collar fitting around the worm.extension, a hollow neck extending from a part of the periphery of thecollar and having a portion slidably disposed in a wall of the gearcase, a brake shoe slidably mounted in said hollow neck and having aninner end extending into the collar and bearing against the wormextension, adjustable spring means disposed in the hollow neck andurging the brake shoe into engagement with the worm extension forresisting rotation of the worm extension, and a locking screw threadedlymounted in the gear case and disposed opposite to and substantially inalignment with the hollow neck, said locking screw being displaceableinto engagement with said collar for moving the collar into tightfrictional engagement with the worm extension to lock the worm againstrotation.

2. A manually operated adjustable motor supporting stand comprising, abase, a post fixed to and rising perpendicularly from said base, a yoke,means swivelly mounting said yoke on the upper portion of said post,said yoke including upstanding substantially parallel ends extending toabove the level of the. upper end of said post, a gear case supported bysaid yoke, said gear case being mounted. on and secured to an outer sideof one of said yoke ends, a worm gear contained in said gear caseincluding a worm wheel and worm, a shaft extending through and turnablymounted in said yoke ends, above the upper end of said post, and havingan end portion disposed turnably in the gear case and fixed to the wormwheel, said shaft having an opposite end projecting outwardly from theother yoke end, a motor mounting bracket secured to said last mentionedshaft end, a crank secured to an extension of said worm and disposedexternally of the gear case for rotating the shaft to revolve the motormounting bracket about the axis of said shaft, said yoke being rotatableabout said post for moving saidmotor mounting bracket to variouspositions around the post, said motor mounting bracket comprising anelongated substantially fiat member having its longitudinal axisdisposed substantially parallel to the axis of the shaft and adapted tobe engaged by-an outboard motor mounting clamp for mounting an outboardmotor thereon, said motor mounting bracket being secured adjacent oneend thereof to the shaft and extending outwardly from said lastmentioned shaft end.

1,344,385 Crays June 22, 1920 I 6 Randall Oct. 7, 1930 Bahrman Oct. 6,1931 Vollmer Jan. 25, 1938 Henry Jan. 26, 1938 Staley Feb. 1, 1944 Scottet a1. July 18, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS France Nov. 25, 1925 France Mar.29, 1927 (Addition)

